1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to display holders, and more specifically, to a display holder for simultaneously displaying cards and flowers or other decorative objects having stems or sticks, or for simultaneously displaying cards and holding a bottle.
2. Related Art
Patients in hospitals frequently receive greeting cards, post cards, flowers, balloons on sticks, and the like, and new mothers may even receive a bottle of champagne or wine. However, storage and display space in hospital rooms, even in private and semi-private rooms, generally is limited to a small nightstand, and perhaps a window ledge. Moreover, hospitals rarely have vases o other containers in which to place flowers received by patients. Thus, due to lack of storage and display space, the hospital patient ma have to dispose of the cards and flowers which were sent to cheer him or her up.
A number of different devices have been proposed for holding cards. Examples of these are U.S. Pat. No. 70,500 to Averell; U.S. Pat. No. 2,916,843 to Meyer; U.S. Pat. No. 3,144,941 to Niino; U.S. Pat. No. 3,263,355 to March; U.S. Pat. No. 3,483,742 to Murray; U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,274 to Glassburn; U.S. Pat. No. 3,789,526 to Lavinson; U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,566 to March; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,280 to Beattie. Most of these, exemplified by the patents to March, Glassburn, Murray, Niino, Meyer, and Averel, are designed to hold and display only cards.
The holding and displaying apparatus disclosed by Beattie comprises a hollow cylindrical form open at both ends and having an elastic cord or the like wrapped around the cylindrical form in successive loops to receive side or top-fold greeting cards. Although the open top would permit insertion of other, extraneous objects, the open bottom limits its utility for storing anything other than greeting cards.
Lavinson discloses a card holder comprising a hollow cylindrical body portion having cleat-like elements extending therefrom around which a cord is wound to retain greeting cards or the like. A body portion is provided with a removable, decorative cover, and can be used to store candy, cookies, or even a plant.
The use of cord by both Lavinson and Beattie presents a significant disadvantage, in that if the two ends of the cord which are fastened together become separated, or if the cord breaks at any location, then the entire cord will detach from its supporting body and all of the displayed cards will fall off. It is the solution of this and other problems to which the present invention is directed.